The Disaster Artist

James Franco is one the most active and creative members of the Hollywood crowd. In addition to comedies, he is often interested in more serious themes, and Disaster Artist is in a similarly serious spirit, even though it is actually revolving around a completely absurd affair. But I like the way he conveyed it. He portrayed the main character in such a way that he deserves at least an Oscar nomination. His creation treats every scene of the film this movie is about in a great detail. You won’t see how a movie is made every day, so you can appreciate a lot of such behind-the-scene moments. It’s a film worthy of attention and I now definitely want to see the original film this movie is about. Such a film story could have been written only by life itself. (13.04.2019)

I haven't seen The Room and this kind of film is not exactly my cup of tea, but James Franco manages to impress with his exceptional acting and I even had a few good laughs. I enjoyed the behind the scenes during filming and a few familiar faces in shorter roles. An interesting film. 75% (05.01.2018)

Despite everything that Franco says about his project, which is parroted by publicists and talk-show hosts, The Disaster Artist is not a good film. Above all, it lacks not only real drama and heart, but also proper insight into the characters’ inner selves. Unlike Burton’s frequently recalled Ed Wood, The Disaster Artist does not bring forth any new or remotely intense or deeply felt view of Tommy Wiseau and his egocentric creative abortion, The Room. It merely repeats what has already been said many times, literally turning observations, which occur to truly everyone while watching The Room, into film sequences and only points out the inconsistencies and ambiguities in the myth that has grown up around the film and its creator, but without following up on them. The result is only a succession of freakshow vignettes in which Franco makes faces and pretends to give a great acting performance. Paradoxically, however, the closing comparison of the original scenes from The Room and their reconstructions by the Franco brothers and company shows that Franco is only mimicking Wiseau pretty much in the same way that a number of The Room fans did before and after him when talking about the film with friends and “re-enacting” the most bizarre sequences. The main drawback of The Disaster Artist is Franco himself. He is a workaholic with a pathological fear of standing still even for a moment. Because of that, his filmography is astonishing in terms of the number of projects he manages to bring to fruition every year as a producer, director and actor. However, the sad truth remains that Franco is not a multitasking genius but, like the vast majority of us, simply a person with limited capacity. In the field of acting, that can still be masked by fleeting effort and the work of make-up artists and costume designers, but Franco’s directing projects are a prime example of unrealised potential. Franco is incapable of fully focusing on one thing for several months, let alone years, as proper directors do, nor does he have his own distinctive style that would make his projects stand out (such as in the case of craftsmen Takashi Miike and Seijun Suzuki). For Franco, each film is just one of a thousand items on an ever-expanding “to do” list that give him a momentary diversion. Whereas that doesn’t particularly matter in the case of stylish hokum like Future World, The Disaster Artist would deserve to be handled by someone other than a fantasist with ADHD who tries to make himself into a great auteur by diving into the role while communicating with everyone during shooting by parodying Wiseau. The documentary project A Room Full of Spoons, with whose creators Wiseau engaged in litigation, offers hope in this respect, as the filmmakers allowed themselves to do what Franco did not do, which is that they aimed to uncover the major issues surrounding The Room – where Tommy comes from, how old is he and where he get the money for the film. (12.07.2018)

The comparison to Burton's Ed Wood, which many commentators resort to, is logical and The Disaster Artist does not come out of it with honor in any way. James Franco still has a long way to go to be a master and above all, he lacks imagination. It's simply not a playful Burton-like film and it can't do anything other than parasitize on the legendary flop The Room. There is nothing else here than mechanical copying, while Tommy Wiseau is portrayed as a completely uncharismatic and, unfortunately, also downright annoying guy, who annoys the viewer with his performances. Much more could have been extracted from the source material. Overall impression: 45%. (31.12.2021)

It would be a stretch to expect a brilliant film, because Franco doesn’t quite manage to spread the plot comprehensively across multiple characters or motivations and move purposefully in one direction. The charm of The Disaster Artist lies more in its quirkiness than its responsibility, more in its original appeal to all those who like the Tommy Wiseau phenomenon, or are just beginning to like him thanks to this celebratory fad. An energetic experience that I'll gladly watch again several times just for my own love of the craft of filmmaking, and I'll cherish that love over and over again, just as I did with the endearingly bad but no less earnest The Room. (10.01.2018)

Was für eine Meinung man sich über Tommy Wiseau auch bilden mag - ob er ein optimistischer Visionär, ein tragischer Träumer oder einfach nur eine Null ist, der zu viel Aufmerksamkeit bekommen hat - spielt hier überhaupt keine Rolle. Denn hier ist James Franco der Chef. Und zweifellos in Bestform. The Disaster Artist funktioniert in jeder Hinsicht auf bemerkenswerte Weise. Insbesondere das Casting ist passend, die schauspielerischen Leistungen authentisch und darüber hinaus gibt es alle paar Minuten unterhaltsame Cameo-Auftritte (das Beste kommt erst nach dem Abspann, also schaltet auf keinen Fall zu früh aus). Natürlich wird man die zweite Hälfte des Films mehr genießen, wenn man zumindest minimal mit The Room vertraut ist. Während des Anschauens hatte ich das Gefühl, dass die Filmemacher die Dreharbeiten wirklich genossen haben und gleichzeitig ihr Bestes getan haben, um sicherzustellen, dass auch der Zuschauer auf seine kosten kommt. Und das genügt mir, um zufrieden zu sein. (07.01.2018)

What a bizarre film! What else would you expect from a film about a total freak who decides to write, produce and make a film? Considering the kind of crap this was, I had a surprisingly good time, largely due to the performance of James Franco who made me laugh like never before, which was a huge contrast to his somewhat wooden brother. (09.09.2018)

Tommy Wiseau is such a ghost in his own right, and so a film about him just has to be interesting, which was confirmed in this case, just as it was confirmed to me that James Franco is immensely talented, not just in terms of acting, but also in terms of directing. He has the film firmly in hand the entire time and doesn't let go until the end. A great tribute, but also a great film. (18.02.2018)

I was bored until about halfway through before everything started to sink in, and by the end, I was laughing my head off. I thought it was a joke, but it really happened! I'm still reeling from the realization. I guess only life itself can really write such a stupid story. James Franco did quite a good job acting and directing. (65%) (19.02.2021)

It would be completely pointless to watch this movie without seeing The Room first. If you have seen it, you're in for an absolutely amazing experience. For me personally, this is one of the most hilarious movies in recent years. The people around James Franco and Seth Rogen are exactly my kind of people and The Disaster Artist is probably their masterpiece. James Franco puts on a perfect one-man show, and though his brother Dave will always be the younger, lesser known, less talented and less frequently cast of the two brothers, his performance is also extraordinary. I generally love watching movies about movies. With such perfection, as in this case thanks to Franco, I couldn't possibly ask for more. In short, this movie is not only about the love of film and filmmaking, but also a great story about the power of true friendship. (01.02.2018)